Prior to taking off in an airplane, a safe pilot will consider several variables—the condition of the airplane, the weather, the origin and destination airports, and his or her physical condition. Now even if a pilot does all of the above, a recent article in an aviation magazine notes that: “It isn’t that we don’t know that conditions are bad; it’s that we do know and choose to go anyway” [1] So why would a pilot choose to fly knowing that problems will be encountered that will endanger the flight?
This is not just an issue for pilots; it is symptomatic for all of us. How many times do we deliberately do what we know is wrong just because we want? How many times do we rationalize doing what we know God forbids? If we truly believe in God and in Jesus, why would we do something that they tell us is contrary to our long-term interests?
Just like the pilots mentioned above, we think we will find a way around the problems we encounter. We think we will be able to convince God to overlook our deliberate transgressions. Also, it tell us is that our soul is not God-like and that the process of salvation we have started is still woefully incomplete (2 Corinthians 2:15, Philippians 2:12, Hebrews 10:14).
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David Matheny, “There Is No Free Launch”, Sport Aviation, June 2019, p. 37.
